COMMUNITY AFFAIRS REFERENCES COMMITTEE—PROPOSED REFERENCE

Senator Rhiannon, pursuant to notice of motion not objected to as a formal motion, moved business of the Senate notice of motion no. 1—That—

(a) the Senate notes that:

(i) Port Waratah Coal Services is seeking approval to construct a major new coal terminal in Newcastle Harbour called Terminal 4 or T4, with a capacity of 110 million tonnes of coal per annum which would treble the current rate of coal exports at Newcastle port,

(ii) the Commonwealth-owned Australian Rail Track Corporation plans to spend $3.5 billion upgrading rail infrastructure for the T4 project, which would generate more than 100 additional uncovered coal train movements per day through the suburbs of Newcastle,

(iii) many Hunter Valley residents living in coal mining areas, along coal train lines and adjacent to coal stockpiles in Newcastle, are concerned that air pollution and coal dust from coal mines and coal trains is adversely affecting their health, and

(iv) a recent University of Sydney report confirmed an elevated risk of cancer, heart and lung disease and birth defects in mining regions, and concluded that there has never been a comprehensive study into the social and health harms of Hunter Valley coal mining, coal transport or coal exports on air quality in the region;

(b) the impact of the Hunter Valley coal rail, coal mining and coal export industry on air quality and public health be referred to the Community Affairs References Committee for inquiry and report by 28 February 2013; and

(c) in undertaking the inquiry, the committee must consider:

(i) what impacts, if any, the mining, transportation, stockpiling and exporting of coal has on air quality in the Hunter region of New South Wales,

(ii) what effect, if any, the air quality impacts of the Hunter coal industry has on public health,

(iii) what impacts the planned expansion of coal mining, transport and export in the Hunter region over the next decade are likely to have on public health, in particular the increase in coal mining and transport required to service the proposed fourth coal terminal in Newcastle,

(iv) what further study needs to be undertaken to fully understand the air quality and public health impacts of the Hunter coal industry,

(v) what steps the Commonwealth could take to protect public health from impacts of the coal industry in the Hunter, and